Answer art thou a Christian indeed and dost thou talk after this manner as if thou wert a Stranger to God to Christ to Heaven and the Happiness of Glorified Saints there whom is it thou callest Father every time thou Prayest is it not the God of Heaven What dost thou make of Jesus Christ thy Professed Lord and Saviour whose love to thee was so great that he would manifest it in no other way than that by which he might most endear himself unto thee and most strongly engage thy Love and Affections unto him and that was by laying down his Life and shedding of his Blood a a Ransom for thy Soul and a propitiation for thy Sins whom thou professest also to believe that he is Aseended up into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God presenting his Blood and Sufferings before the Throne of the Majesty on high that both thy self and thy Services that are Impure and Imperfect in themselves may yet be accepted through him Is it not through his Righteousness alone that thou hopest for Justification unto Life and Happiness and through his Strength that thou art enabled to perform all thy Duties and yet dost thou not know him what a strange thing is this But alas sayest thou it is very little that I know of him never did I see him in all my days But what if thou hast not beheld him with thy Bodily Eyes yet canst thou not say with the Apostle whom having not seen yet thou hast and dost believe in him and sometimes it may be so as to rejoyce with that Joy that is unspeakable and full of Glory and tho' thou hast not known him after the Flesh yet thou hast known him after the Spirit though thou hast known him but a little and what thou dost see and know of him Spiritually is but through a Glass darkly yet be not dejected fear not for he knows thee perfectly and hath separated thee and set thee apart for himself from Eternity and hath effectually called thee in time Justified thee by his Grace yea he knows thee by Name and now in the approach of Death he is coming to take thee to himself where thou shalt see him as he is and know him as thou art known of him And as for those Glorious Creatures the Angels and Saints in Heaven methinks it should even Ravish thee to think how those Noble and Excellent Creatures will flock about thee and bid thee welcome into Heaven as one greatly beloved of the Lord saying unto thee not as the Angel once said unto the two Mary's Mat. 28. come see the place where the Lord lay but come see the Throne where thy Lord sits in all his Majesty and Glory But may some say I may well be afraid to die because it is that which puts an end to my life and being here and who can without fear look upon himself and see his Body withering and decaying and not be troubled at it is not Death the great Dread and Terror of the World Job therefore calls it The King of Terrors O how doth the Expectations of Death appale the Faces weaken the Hands shake the Hearts imbitter the Pleasures and damp and cool the Spirits even of the Mighty ones of the Earth Should God say unto many that they should set their Houses in Order for they shall die and not live should they see a Tekel written upon their Walls their days are finished this night shall their Souls be taken from them what sad Lamentations would most Men make Life O how sweet is it to them all that they have would they give for their Lives doth not Nature it self teach us to seek the Preservation of our Beings and abhors whatever tends to its Dissolution as death doth To this I Answer because of this abhorrency of Death which is implanted in the Nature of all Men living there may be even in the best of God's People a fear of Death and an unwillingness to die Our Lord himself who was without Sin discovers something of this who though to shew his great willingness and readiness to die for Sinners said I have a Baptism to be Baptized withal which was the Baptism of his Blood and how am I straitned till it be accomplished thinking long for the coming of the day of his Death whereby the work of our Redemption was in a great measure to be accomplished yet when Death came to him see how his pure and innocent Nature was put to it when he cry'd out Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me It is true in his Case there was more than Death in it there was wrath there was a curse there was all the Sins of the World wrung into that Cup to mingle him a bitter draught but this was also something of it for there was Death in the Cup. It will therefore be the Wisdom of Christians to whatever measure of confidence and assurance they may have attained so as upon good grounds to have overcome the fears of Death and to look upon their dying day as the most joyful day in their lives yea though in this confidence their Hearts may sometimes pant after the coming of that day and they ready to cry out make haste my beloved come Lord Jesus come quickly yet will it be your wisdom to buckle on all your Armour to get all your Evidences and Experiences ready for the conflict of that day and hour may be such as that you may stand in need of your utmost Preparations for you know not how the Flesh may shrink in the day of Trial. But if it should be so yet be not discouraged O Christian for possibly this very instance of our Lord may be left upon Record for this very end to comfort his People when they shall be overtaken with the same fears and troubles And as for the sweetness of this present Life the losing whereof makes thee to fear Death let me ask thee this Question Who art thou that art so fond of this present Life Art thou a Christian indeed and in truth or dost thou only make a profession of Religion without the life and power of Godliness If thou art only an outward professor I wonder not that thou shouldst set so high a price and value upon life and art so unwilling to part with it because all thy happiness is terminated in things that are enjoyed on this side Death and the Grave for as for those great and glorious things that Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor can possibly enter into the Heart of Man to conceive that God hath prepared for them that love him and which are to be enjoyed beyond time in Eternity thou hast no lot or portion in those matters What wonder therefore if thou mourn and sigh even to the breaking of thy Loyns when Death comes to put an end to thy Life for then it separates between thee and thy happiness for ever But if thou art one that truly
of his Son much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his Life For certainly he is able to save unto the utmost all that come unto God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them Christ hath not lost his Love and Affection to his People by his Advancement Harbour not therefore O Believing Soul any suspicious thoughts in thy Heart concerning him as if by his Exaltation into Heaven he were now become forgetful of any of his Members here below groaning under Sin or Misery for though the days of his Passion are ended yet so are not the days of his Compassion He retains the same Temper and Disposition of Soul now he is in Glory his Heart is not changed though his Condition be but he still bears the same Respect to his People now that he did when he was on Earth for indeed he there Lives and Acts upon the account of Believers so says the Apostle He appears in the presence of God for us Heb. 9.24 Doth God O Believing Soul by Diseases and Distempers upon thy outward Man cause thy Beauty and Comeliness to consume and wither hath long and tedious Sicknesses almost wasted and destroyed thy Body and by all art thou brought so low that thou despairest of Life Doth Death seem to be written upon all thy helps to Life And do all the means that are used for thy Recovery seem rather to further thy Dissolution than any way to hinder it Why yet fear not Death but Remember as God hath Glorified and highly Exalted Jesus Christ whose Form and Visage as the Prophet speaks was marr'd more than any Mans so he will Exalt thee also not to an Equality of Glory with Christ for in Heaven he shall be the Light and the Glory of it but yet there shall be some likeness and Conformity in all the Members of Christ unto him who is their Head Fear not therefore O Christian the worst that Death or the Grave can do unto thee for assure thy self as because he lives Believers shall live also so where he lives there Believers shall live also Thirdly Another Consideration for the removal of the fear of Death is frequent Meditation of the Happiness of the Soul in Death and of the Resurrection of the Body after Death As for the Happiness of the Souls of Believers in death it is exceeding great the Body at present suffers loss for though once it was an excellent Fabrick the Workmanship of God's hands yet being forsaken by the Soul it is become loathsome and turns to Corruption and rottenness so says the Wise Man The Body returns to the dust from whence it was taken there to consume and moulder away this is the State of Man's Body in Death procured by Sin and inflicted by God But now for the Soul that returns to God that gave it either to partake of Eternal Blessedness or to receive Eternal Punishments Now that the Happiness of Believers in their Souls is great at Death will appear if we consider either the Evils they are freed from or the Blessedness they attain unto as for the Evils that accompany our present State in this Life Death frees Believers from them all at once during this Mortal Life indeed Sufferings are annexed to the State of a Christian as a necessary Appendix to his very Being for such is our condition while we are here that Afflictions are almost become as needful for the Soul as Food and Raiment is for the Body therefore saith the Apostle if need be you are in heaviness through manifold Tribulations 1 Pet. 1.6 God sees it needful that Afflictions should be and in his Wisdom and Mercy he proportions the Afflictions of his People to their necessities This Life is a Life of Suffering unto the People of God it is their appointed Path and Way through which they must walk to Heaven therefore says the Apostle We must through many Tribulations enter into the Kingdom of God It is appointed for us so to do And indeed as Job speaks Man is born to trouble as the sparks flyupward he comes into the World crying and all the rest of his time between the Cradle and the Grave he is not much Happier for his Life is made up of Sin and Suffering the Evil of Sin and the Evil of Suffering there is a kind of a continual Chaining or Linking together of one Misery or Affliction to another a mixture of Pain and Sorrow or Succession of Evils and Troubles that runs through all his days as one Wave falls upon the neck of another so one Evil is no sooner gone but another comes in its room One depth as the Psalmist speaks calls upon another Floods and Storms of Miseries and Afflictions daily pass over our heads And if Troubles and Afflictions come not of themselves nor are caused by others we can Mint and Coin them our selves by our Sins Our Lord tells us That sufficient to the day that is to every day are the Evils and Troubles thereof but as if they were not enough we can create Troubles to our selves before hand and Anticipate in our Fancies and Apprehensions for our greater Vexation and Trouble Evils that are to come though we know not whether we our selves shall live till they come And herein we are more cruel to our selves than the Devil is to himself for that Evil Spirit cares not to be Tormented before his time whereas we antidate and bring Evils that are at a distance from us nearer to us by unquiet Apprehensions and sinful distracting Vexations entertained in our minds and so the fears of Miseries to come make us far more miserable than when those miseries are come upon us and by the Apprehension of an imaginary Evil we make it become a real Affliction and an unfeigned Torment to us in our resentment of it Thus Sin and Sorrow Afflictions and Temptations divide our days and time while we are here until Death comes for a Believers relief and then there shall be an end put to all his Sorrows and Sufferings because there shall be an end of Sinning After Death there shall be no Cries nor Tears under any Miseries or Afflictions no fears of future Evils nor no grief for past sins the causes of them no Poverty or Distress shall come near that Holy place the Habitation of Holy Souls all the Inhabitants there are become Kings possessed of Riches and Glory without value Fear not therefore O dying Believer whose Soul by Death is getting free from thy Body for thou art but removing from Earth to Heaven where thou shalt instantly be with thy dear Lord and Saviour thou art but going to thy God and Father and the Father of Spirits to visit those Mansions of Glory that are there prepared for thee Chearfully therefore take thy leave of thy Body and let it know that thou art taking thy flight to Heaven during the time that it shall sleep in the dust of the Grave until the morning of the
speaks of Death as that which he was daily familiar with being in Deaths often frequently thinking thereof for said he I die daily Thoughts of Death was that which he accustomed himself unto and that was one Cause why he was so willing to embrace it And thus it should be with all of us were our hearts rightly affected and we so familiarly acquainted with death as we ought Those of us who have the most lively Faith would not only not be afraid of death but we should even court it as that which is better than life But I would not here discourage any weak Believer for I dare not say that they are no true Believers who are not come up to this frame of Soul Though it is true Grace is the same in all Believers one Believer hath the same that another Believer hath yet all that are Believers do not attain to the same degrees of Grace There are some and it is their sin and ought to be their Humiliation that Death and they are little acquainted they seldom descend into the Grave by frequent Meditations of their Mortality they look not into the Pit out of which at first they were taken and into which they are shortly to return now their comfort in the thoughts of death is little if any at all because death and they are such Strangers to one another These may be true Believers but they are weak and faulty But now others there are who are so advanced in Grace above their Brethren that by a constant Familiarity with death are so composed in their Spirits that they fear it not nay they rejoice in the thoughts of it not because they think they shall not taste of death for they know that death will overtake them as well as others they are sensible that the time of their departure draws nearer and nearer daily These things they believe but they do not afflict themselves therewith so well are they acquainted with death both in the Nature and in the Effects of it And were they to die presently this would not much trouble them for they know the bitterness of death is past though death it self be not the Gall and the Wormwood is taken out Christ hath been there before them and therefore the sting of death which is sin is gone the dangers yea and the difficulties also in dying are removed out of the way This they believe and therefore they are not afraid though by death they descend through the Grave into Heaven for their Jesus their Saviour is there and they know that till they die where he is they cannot be wherefore they say though we die nay therefore will we die that we may see him Wouldst thou therefore O weak Believer attain unto this sweet frame of Spirit accustom thy self then to a holy familiarity with death conceive of it under the fairest and easiest Notions this is that the Spirit of God in Scripture delights in when it speaks of death with respect to the People of God it always makes use of the most comfortable Expressions to represent it to them by So sweetly is death enamell'd and so richly is it cloathed in the holy Language that it seems to have a kind of Lustre and Beauty upon it to draw the Hearts and Affections of Believers to be desirous of it Look a little therefore O Believer into the Sacred Oracles and see how the Spirit of God teacheth us to cloath Death with delightful Expressions sometimes it is called an undressing or uncloathing And what Man that hath worn a Suit of Cloaths till it is become filthy and nasty would not be glad to put off his old filthy Garments that he might put on Change of Raiment And why should not a Christian be willing to lay down the Earthly House of his Tabernacle though it be in the Dust of the Grave that he may be cloathed upon with his House which is from Heaven Sometimes Death is compared to Rest they shall rest in their Beds says the Prophet and Job speaking of the state of Man in death tells us there the weary are at rest Now when a Man hath wrought hard and taken great pains and labour all the Day how desirous is he to go to Bed and take his Rest And is not Death the same to thee O Christian Doth not the Spirit of God call it so Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord for they rest from their labours And surely there is no rest like to that rest that a Christian obtains after his spiritual labours and conflicts with Sin Satan the World and his own evil Heart when the Soul is set free from the Body and takes its flight at once from all these into the Bosom of God that place of Rest and Happiness which remains for the People of God As there is no Yoke like unto the Yoke of Christ when a Christian suffers for him for it is a Yoke lined with Love My Yoke says he is easie and my Burthen is light So there is no Rest and Happiness like that which is with Christ for the same Happiness that he enjoys his Children and Servants enjoy also Sometimes death is called a Sleep so says our Lord our Friend Lazarus sleepeth it is spoken of his death now who of us when the day is spent and the night hath overtaken us is afraid to go to bed and sleep And why then should a Christian when his Days are finished and the Night of Sickness is come upon him be afraid to fall asleep though he sleep the sleep of Death By such Considerations as these and the like that the Scripture holds forth to us Christians should endeavour to allay the bitterness beautifie the deformity blunt the edge and take out the sting of death that all hard thoughts of it might be buried and instead thereof there might grow up a sweet Familiarity and Acquaintance between them and death Oh how would this facilitate the work of dying and cause holy Souls to exult with joy and rejoicing when death is approaching towards them And here I cannot but make a little Digression to reason the Case with some weak Believers whose unwillingness to die is very great because their fears of death are so many But why should the fears of Death so amaze and terrifie thee O weak Believer Hast thou not the same Grace in thee with others Hast thou not the same Faith the same Hope the same Love acting and working in thee Dost thou not serve the same Lord Hast thou not the same God for thy Father the same Jesus for thy Saviour the same Spirit of Consolation for thy Comforter Art thou not going to the same Heaven nay art thou not going to the same Heaven in the same way that all the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and Saints of God in all Ages have gone before thee Death was the Gate through which they all entred into Heaven and why then shouldst thou be so unwilling to go to Heaven
If upon Examination of thy Heart thou dost not find it thus with thee why then consider though this frame of Soul be Characteristical of a true Christian yet you must consider also that the same Character of a Christian that is a cause of joy and rejoicing to some yea to a Man 's own self sometimes at another time may be a cause of fear and doubting to him not but that that which distinguisheth a true Christian from a Hypocrite is the same at one time that it is at another only we cannot see nor discover so clearly the State of our Souls towards God by it at one time as at another And this is the Reason why some are so lifted up with joy yea with holy longing of Soul in hopes of the Glory of God when others are cast down under fears and doubts as if they had no hopes of or at least no present Interest in or title unto any such thing But farther Art thou fearful O Christian of thy self because thou canst not feel this ardency of desires in thee after thy dissolution and the Glorious appearing of Jesus Christ so as to look and long for the coming of these things Why know O troubled Soul that every Character of a Christian is not discernable by all Christians at all times and in all conditions Thou mayest have that in thee which is the cause of these longing desires in others though at present it doth not work so strongly in thee that thou mayest sensibly feel the power of its operations thus drawing forth thy Heart and Affections in this ardent and vehement manner Grace though weak and in the seed hath a tendency in it and is making out after this holy longing and rejoicing of Soul in hopes of the Glory of God though there may be the intervention of some time before there be an attaining to it If there be the remainders of the Spirit of Bondage in thee to fear in this case Grace in thee is not come to that perfection that it is in others but yet it will be growing and encreasing in thee and as thy Grace grows stronger and stronger so will thy fears of Death and Judgment grow weaker and weaker Furthermore O troubled Soul though thou canst not feel thy Soul breathing forth it self in these holy longings desires after thy Dissolution the beholding of the face of God and the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ yet dost thou believe that it will be incomparably better for thee to be with Christ than to abide here on Earth and therefore though Death be dreadful to think of in it self yet seeing it is the only passage through which God hath appointed our entrance into Heaven though thou canst not say that thou longest for it yet art thou willing to entertain it if God sends it and though the fears of Death sometimes discourage thee yet doth not thy belief of and hope in a future State of Happiness abate those fears considering the advantages that will follow it And though it be an amazing thing in thy thoughts to think of coming before the Great and Holy GOD yet except when Temptations make thee fear that God will condemn thee for thy Sins hadst thou not rather come to God by Death than not come to him at all the enjoyment of whom is thy Soul 's utmost Happiness And though the sight of Christ's coming in the Clouds at the Day of Judgment in the Glory of his Father and of the Holy Angels will be very terrible to behold and the thoughts thereof strike thee with fear and trembling when thou considerest thine own sinfulness and therefore canst not think of that Day with so strong a Faith and Consolation with such earnestness of desires and holy longing as some Christians do yet be not discouraged though thou dost not long for yet dost thou love the appearance of Jesus Canst thou say thou wouldst not take all the pleasures of this World for thy hopes of the happiness of this Day And couldst thou attain to that full assurance that some of God's People have thou wouldst then with earnestness of desire and holy longing of Soul cry out as the Church doth Come Lord Jesus come quickly Is it thus with thee O Soul why then be not troubled nay be comforted for that which at present is Faith Hope Desire and Love may in a little time be vehement longing and assurance yea the riches of the full assurance of Faith Rest not therefore in any weak desires but labour for this holy longing of Soul after God and the Eternal Enjoyment of him in Glory that in Life and Death your Soul may part and breath after immediate and everlasting Communion with him This is that frame of Soul that the People of God ought to labour after and which many have attained unto the earnestness and vehemency of whose desires have been so great that they have been as it were under sweet and delightful agonies of pain and their Souls even breaking with longings after the presence of God and Christ in Glory Examples of this Nature that might be instanced in are many I shall mention one of which I was an Eye and Ear Witness the Person was one of a middle rank and quality in the World but of great eminency in Grace and Holiness while living and full of Joy and Peace when dying It pleased God who appoints us the bounds and place of our Habitations to cast my lot into a Religious Family where this Godly Person lived whose Memory to me is and ever shall be very precious after I had been there some time it pleased God to lay this Person upon a sick bed which proved a death-bed whose Mouth was always full of Holy and Heavenly Discourse and as Death approached nearer and nearer those Heavenly Expressions were with greater earnestness and frequency repeated the last Day of whose Life as long as speech continued was spent in uttering continual expressions full of holy longings and desires after the enjoyment of God and Christ in Glory Methinks the sweetness of the Melody revives my Spirit still when I call to remembrance in my serious thoughts what I then heard and saw Oh with what Joy and Desight of Soul was the thoughts of Death entertained Surely nothing was or could possibly be more welcome to such a Soul except it were the immediate fruition of God in Heaven whose Soul in the delightful much longed for and panted-after Happiness in the enjoyment of God breathed forth continually such expressions as these for many hours together Come Lord Jesus when shall I come and appear before thee Oh Lord when Lord when Oh come Lord Jesus come quickly And thus this Holy Person died changing a frail mortal Life on Earth for an immortal Life in Heaven where to be and to be most happy is all one I could fill up many sheets with wonderful expressions of the loves longings pantings and breathings that I have read of Holy
Jesus the Head will diffuse it self into all its Members to quicken and raise them also in the morning of the Resurrection And indeed Christ is not perfectly risen till all Believers are risen also For though Christ's personal Resurrection was perfect when he arose out of the Grave and though all Believers did then arise with Christ representatively yet till all Believers arise personally at the last day the Resurrection of Christ hath not received its full perfection How comfortable therefore is this to a Believer to consider that by the same Faith that he puts Christ's Resurrection into the Premises he may put his own Resurrection into the Conclusion If Christ be in you says the Apostle speaking to Believers in Rom. 8.10 11. The body is dead it is a poor frail dying body because of sin And though you are really united unto Christ by his Spirit dwelling in you which is a great and glorious Priviledge yet your bodies must die as well as others but the Spirit saith he is life because of Righteousness Though your bodies die your souls shall be su'allowed up in life upon your dissolution this Happiness Believers have even in death But this is not all for saith the Apostle if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you what then why though your bodies must fall by Death into the Grave yet they shall rise and live again at the Resurrection and that by virtue of the Spirit of Christ which dwelleth in you and is the Bond of your Mystical Vnion with him who is your Head for says the Apostle He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your Mortal Bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you Because Christ is your Head and his Spirit dwelleth in you you shall be raised again and that not as others by a meer word of his Power as the wicked are but by the Spirit of Life dwelling in Christ your Head which is an excellent Priviledge indeed O the Consolation that the hope of the Resurrection fills the Believing Soul withal it is this Blessed Hope that supports it not only under the Troubles of Life but makes it Triumph even under the Pains and Agonies of Death it self Thirdly Meditate frequently upon the Ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven Now this Ascension of Christ into Heaven as it was full of Glory and Triumph in respect of himself so is it full of admirable Comfort in respect of Believers As to himself his Ascension was Triumphant a Cloud was prepared as a Royal Chariot to carry up this King of Glory into Heaven so it is said in Acts 11.10 That whilst his Disciples beheld he was taken up and a Cloud received him out of their sight and no doubt a Royal Guard of Angels attended the Solemnity of their Lord's Ascension If when Christ came into the World to suffer Angels waited upon him for even then it was said of him Let all the Angels of God Worship him surely much more then now that he hath finished the work of Mans Redemption do the Angels Worship him in his return to Heaven again where he is exalted to have a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow both of things in Heaven and things on Earth and things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father But may a poor Believer say what is all this to me what am I the better that Christ is Ascended and Exalted thus in Glory Yes this is much for the advantage of Believers for it is the same Jesus that was Crucified for them that God hath made both Lord and Christ It is he who took not on him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham who is Exalted above Angels being gone into Heaven Angels Principalities and Powers being made subject unto him It is this Jesus Christ whom God hath raised from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not only in this World but also in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church Ephes 1.20 21. Christ Ascended into Heaven as a publick Person or the fore-runner of Believers for he is not gone to take possession of Heaven only for himself but also in our Name and for us So the Apostle tells us Heb. 6.20 speaking of the most Holy place within the Vail whither says he the fore-runner that is Christ is for us entred And if we will not believe the Apostle Christ himself tells us the same thing John 14.2 In my Father's House are many Mansions I go to prepare a place for you And if I go away I will come again and receive you unto my self that where I am there ye may be also Christ is now in Heaven transacting the Affairs and Concerns of Believers both for their present Peace and Comfort and for their future Eternal Happiness not only by intercepting the daily cry of their sins by the continual Representation of his Death and Sufferings unto his Father and so making an Atonement and Reconciliation with God for them but by the Blood of his Cross he maintains this Peace and keeps up good thoughts in God towards Believers sprinkling their poor and weak but sincer Services with the Incense of his own Merits so that though both they and their Services deserve to be rejected for their own sakes yet they shall both be accepted for Christ's sake This now is something that Christ is doing in Heaven in the behalf of Believers since he is Ascended to his Father and to their Father to his God and to their God But yet this is not all for in that comfortable Prayer of his to his Father before his Ascension into Heaven which is say some the Copy of his Intercession now he is in Heaven he doth as it were tell us that he looks not upon himself as perfectly Happy until he hath the whole number of Believers with him in Glory and therefore says he John 17.24 Father I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where Lam that they may behold that is that they may enjoy my Glory which thou hast given me O what Comfort then is here to all Believers against the Fears of Death for assure thy self O Believing Soul that neither Death nor the Grave shall be a bar to thy Happiness thou must die it is true so did Christ but he is Risen and Ascended up into Heaven and so shalt thou also in due time and therefore says the Apostle He hath made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephes 2.6 Salvation and Happiness is made sure to a Believer by Christ for if when we were Enemies we were reconciled unto God by the death
Souls after the enjoyment of God and Christ both Martyrs and others O cryeth one the Love of Christ in my Heart casteth a mighty heat he knoweth that the desire I have to be with him paineth me I have sick Nights and frequent fits of Love Fevers for my well-beloved Nothing is so painful to me as the want of his presence but it is a sweet pain O that he would cool my Love-Fever for him with real enjoyment of him O Great King says one why standest thou aloof off why remainest thou among the Mountains O well-beloved why dost thou pain a poor Soul with delays A long time out of thy Glorious Presence is as two Deaths and as two Hells to me we must meet I must see him hungring and thirsting for Christ hath brought on me such a necessity of enjoying him that cost what it will I cannot but assure Christ to my Soul one smile of his Face to me is a Kingdom a sight of him is worth a World of Worlds Sweet Jesus crys one out wilt thou let me see Heaven to break my Heart and never give me leave to enjoy it O fairest where dwellest thou O never enough admired and adored Godhead how can Creatures of yesterday be able to enjoy thee O what pain crys one is it that Time and Sin should be as so many thousand Miles between a loved longed for Lord and a pining Love-sick Soul Hell and as I now think all the pains of it laid on me could not put me off from loving of him I would refuse says one no condition not Hell excepted reserving always God's hatred to buy the possession and enjoyment of Jesus Oh closed Doors and Vails Curtains and thick Clouds crys one that hold me in pain while I find the sweet burnings of his Love within me which many waters cannot quench O Death do thy utmost against us O Torments O Malice of Men and Devils bring Hell to help you in Tormenting the Followers of the Lamb we will defie you to make us too soon happy and to waft us too soon over the water to that Land where that Plant the Plant of Renown grows O cruel time that Torments us and suspends our dearest enjoyments that we wait for when we shall be bathed and steeped Soul and Body in the depth of this Love of Loves I half call says one his absence cruel and that Mask and Vail upon his Face a cruel covering that hideth such a fair fair Face from a sick Soul I dare not challenge himself but his absence is a Mountain of Iron upon my heavy Heart Oh when shall we meet What do we here but sin and suffer Oh when shall the Night be gone and the Shadows fly away and the morning of that long long Day without Cloud or Night dawn The Spirit and the Bride say come Oh when shall the Lamb's Wife be ready and the Bridegroom say I come also O Time be not so slow but run yea fly away swiftly O Sun move speedily and hasten our Banquet O Heavens cleave asunder that the bright Face and Head may set it self through the Clouds O that the Corn were ripe and this World prepared for his hook How long is it to the dawning of the Marriage day O sweet Lord Jesus take wide steps O my Lord come over the Mountains at one stride cut short Years and Months and Hours shovel time and days out of the way post post haste our desired hungred longed for Meeting love is sick to hear of till too Morrow fly O my beloved like a Roe or a young Heart upon the Mountains of Separation O that thou wouldst remove says one the covering and draw aside the Curtain of Time that thou wouldst rent the Heavens and come down O that the Shadows and Nights were gone that the Day would break and be that feedeth among the Lilies would cry and call to his Heavenly Trumpeters make ready and let us go down and fold together the four corners of the World and Marry the Bride the Lamb's Wife since he hath looked upon me my Heart is not my own But I shall not proceed farther herein though the Subject be exceeding delightful but notwithstanding what hath been said herein I am far from thinking that these holy pantings and longings of Soul are to be found in every Godly Man or that none are truly Godly but those that find and feel in themselves these pantings and longings of Soul after the enjoyment of God in this vehement and ardent manner no I dare not say so for I believe multitudes yea the generality of Believers through sloathfulness never attain to this high pitch of Grace and Assurance of the Divine Love and Favour who yet go to Heaven very safely but where there are any that do attain unto this plerophory or full assurance such Souls live as it were on the very Suburbs of Heaven it self And by this we may see what is the Duty of a Christian to labour after and what sweet peace joy and delight we all lose who do not come up to this frame and temper of Soul even such as passeth our understandings to conceive or our expressions to make known which made a Godly Man once cry out in a holy pang of love unto Jesus Christ If I can get no more O let me be pained to all Eternity with longing for him the joy of hungring for Christ should be my Heaven for evermore CHAP. V. Death terrible in its self It is a dreadful Enemy Wherein its Enmity doth consist This Enemy shall be destroyed though it be the last Enemy that shall be destroyed Christ by his Death hath overcome Death for Believers and how far he hath done it Of the fear of Death and the Causes thereof How the fears of Death may be Conquered and overcome It is very uncomely for Christians to be afraid of Death It is possible for Christians to live without the fear of Death How Christians may die with Courage and Joy THo' death as it brings Holy Souls to the Eternal Fruition of God is desirable yet considered in its self it is dreadful being accompanied with Diseases and Distempers the fore-runners of a Dissolution and Separation between Soul and Body causing all the Actions and Operations of Life to cease in which State the Body quickly turns to Corruption and Putrefaction and in time to common Earth Now though this be dreadful unto Nature yet is there more of Terror in death unto Impenitent sinners because to them it is not only a Gate to let them into the Grave but a Gate to let them into Hell the first death transmitting them unto the second death And yet how great is the folly of Men that they fear death for that which is least formidable in it but do not fear it for that which renders it justly terrible Could death do no more to us than what reacheth to pains and distempers on the outward Man and the dissolution and destruction of
Resurrection where thou shalt be out of the reach of all Afflictions and Sorrows and where thou canst not be endangered by sin the Tempter or any of his Temptations And concerning the Resurrection of the Body it is not only one of the most Excellent Mysteries of the Christian Religion but it is also one of its Glorious Advantages It is that which the Heathens with all their deep Reasonings could never attain to the understanding of but though Humane Reason be blind and cannot find out this Glorious Mystery yet we who are Christians have the sure and certain Knowledge of it discovered to us by Divine Revelation and when Reason is once savingly enlightned from above O how the Justice and necessity of the future Resurrection of the Body is not only acknowledged but admired I confess when a Believer is cast upon his Death-bed and his Soul ready to take its leave of the Body in its passage unto Heaven it is no small cause of Joy and rejoycing to consider that as soon as it hath cast off its Earthly Tabernacle it shall be immediately admitted into the Glorious Presence of God himself where it shall view and contemplate his Face with infinite and unspeakable delight and satisfaction But yet that Holy Joy and that Heavenly Sweetness which sometimes is so Powerful that it Ravisheth the Soul of a Believer on a Death-bed whilst it Contemplates that Happiness to which it is going may be disturbed and imbittered by the Consideration of the poor Bodies being cast into the Earth there to become a Feast for Worms to feed upon But be not troubled at this O Believing Soul for this seeming Destruction of thy Body shall not be Eternal though it fall into the Grave by Death where it seems at present to be lost and forgotten yet shall it have a certain Resurrection and then the Ignominy and Disgrace under which it lay in the Grave shall appear not to have been so great as its Resurection out of it shall appear Glorious for it is sown in Corruption but it is raised in Incorruption it is Sown in dishonour but it is raised in Glory it is Sown in weakness it is raised in Power it is Sown a Natural Body it is raised a Spiritual Body in 1 Cor. 15.42 43. Fear not therefore O Believing Soul but commit thy Body with Confidence unto the Earth and let thy Heart rejoyce let thy Tongue be glad and let thy Flesh rest in the hopes of a blessed Resurrection for assure thy self thy Body shall not always lie rotting in the Grave neither shall in there see Corruption for ever but there shall come a time when God shall shew it the path of Life again when thy Soul shall descend from Heaven to assume its new raised body out of the Grave to become a most glorious Body even like unto the glorious Body of Jesus Christ being made more spiritual and so more suitable to the Nature and Operations of the Soul that it may become a fit Partner with it in the Blessedness and Happiness of Heaven for evermore Fourthly Consider the Familiarity that Believers have expressed towards Death Ordinarily indeed Men put death into such ugly shapes and represent it to themselves under such terrible and afrighting forms that they pass their lives under slavery and bondage through the fears of it all their days The visage of Death appears so grim and full of horrour to the minds of some that the serious forethoughts of it seem to them to be a tormenting them before their time O how vastly different are the thoughts of a wicked and a godly man concerning Death and the Grave the one looks upon death as full of Dread and Horrour the other looks upon it as a Messenger of Peace and Joy and how can it be otherwise For to the wicked it comes as a dreadful Enemy armed with the wrath of an angry God which burns to the lowest Hell But to the Godly it comes as a peaceable loving Friend sent with Tydings of Peace and Reconciliation from him who is the God of Peace and Love Natural fear of Death in a wicked Man is great but when natural fear is encreased by guilt lying upon the Conscience and staring a Sinner in the face Oh what dismal Horrour and Confusion must seize upon such a Soul under the Apprehensions of Death Well may such a one look upon the Grave as a Dungeon and Death as Hell it self an awakened Conscience representing to his view nothing but the Fiends and Furies of that Infernal Pit that wait to be the Executioners of the Wrath and Vengeance of the great God upon him in the Woes and Miseries of everlasting Burnings Who wonders therefore to hear such an one crying out upon a Death-bed with Horrour and Anguish of Soul Oh I am so sick I cannot live and yet I am so sinful I dare not die and yet die I must Oh would to God that the serious Thoughts of these things might be laid to heart by all profane Sinners What a happy means might it possibly be to prevent the Horrours and Consternation of Soul in many upon a Death-bed But if Sinners cannot bear the Thoughts of these things in their Minds now for fear of Distraction how will they bear the sight and presence of them then If the thinking and speaking of them now be dreadful the feeling of them will be far more tormenting But now a godly Man thinks and speaks of death after another manner for if he thinks and speaks of death as a godly Man may and ought to do he is so far from being terrified with the thoughts of it that he thinks of it comfortably speaks of it familiarly As it was wont to be the speech of a very Holy Person now with God who was pretty well stricken in years I hope it will not be long before I shall be in Heaven for few live above sixty or seventy years and I am now a good many above fifty certainly therefore it cannot be long before I shall die Thus this Holy Soul being desirous of death did use delightfully to reckon how little time there was to pass between it and Heaven and with a holy longing of Soul reaching after death as one that was troubled that it was so long a coming Thus certainly did holy Job look upon death not as an Enemy nor yet barely as a Stranger but as one of his Friends whom he was well acquainted with took a kind of Deligh and Contentment in it See with what an unusual but yet sweet and familiar manner he salutes and welcomes death and all its Retinue in Job 17.14 I have said to Corruption thou art my Father and to the Worm thou art my Mother and Sister The Holy Man makes no more of Death and the Grave than as if he were going to be embraced by a compassionate Father or a tender-hearted Mother or Sister whose Bowels were full of love and pity to him Thus St. Paul also
your loss in your Friends and Relations be what it will let your Condition be as bad as it can be yet is it better with you than it would be in Hell whither your sins deserve God should have sent you who hath only laid this gentle Affliction upon you under which you now groan Thirdly Consider your Friends and Relations that you grieve and mourn so for if they were good they are not lost they are but gone before taken from the evil to come Thy Friend or Relation whose loss thou bewailest was either God's Friend or not if he was God's Friend as well as thine why should not God have his Company rather than you and if God hath him thou canst not say he is lost no he is safe only he hath got the start of thee being got to Heaven before thee and surely if thou lovedst him as by thy mourning thou pretendest to do thou canst not grieve because he is Happy The World is not so pleasant a place neither have the Godly in any Age found it so that any of us should so eagerly desire it either for our selves or our Friends Happy are they that are got safe out of it into Glory If thy Friend for whom thou now grievest was bad thou shouldst have mourned for him whilst he was here on Earth when by thy mourning thou mightst have made him better then was the proper yea the only time for thy Prayers and Tears to have done him any good but now that he is gone though thou shouldst weep and mourn never so much it is altogether in vain and unprofitable But if thy Friend were a good Man to grieve for his departure seems to argue that we have but hard or doubtful and misgiving thoughts concerning him for how can we mourn for one that is Happy besides thy Friend is but taken from the Evil to come The Grave becomes a hiding-place for some and God sees it better for them that they should be under ground than above ground in such evil days that they may not behold the Evil that is like to come upon others so says the Prophet The Righteous are taken away from the evil to come and certainly it is far better for us to desire to go to them that we may partake of their Happiness than to wish that they should come to us to partake of our Miseries Fourthly Grieve not immoderately for thy dead Friends and Relations for there is hope of their Resurrection and Eternal Happiness It is for them to mourn without measure who mourn without hope which no Christian should do We are not to look upon the dead because at present they are turned to Corruption and Rottenness as a lost Generation of Men for Death hath not nor cannot Annihilliate and destroy them A Believer may say of his dead Friends and Relations what the Disciples said unto Christ when he told them Our Friend Lazarus sleepeth Lord say they if he sleep be shall do well John 11.12 the same may Believers say of their Friends and Relations that are asleep in their Graves they shall do well for they shall awake again so says the Church Isaiah 26.19 Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust for thy dew is as the dew of Herbs and the Earth shall cast out the dead Now we do not use to weep and mourn for our Friends and Relations when they lie down at night to take a short sleep in their Beds because we know they use to awake and arise again in the morning And why then should we be grieved and troubled when they come to lie down in the dust and make their Beds for a while in the Grave sleeping away time by Death until the morning of the Resurrection when they shall as surely nay more surely awake and arise out of their Graves than they were certain in the morning of any day to awake and arise out of their Beds And therefore the Apostle brings it in as a Cordial for the support of Believers under the loss of their Friends and Relations by Death 1 Thessal 4.13 14. I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren concerning them which are asleep that ye sorrow not even as those that have no hope for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him And so he goes on proving the Doctrine of the Resurrection and conludes with this so shall we be ever with the Lord wherefore says he Comfort one another with these words When Believers die tho' their Bodies seem to perish in the Earth yet even then is their very dust precious in his sight for he takes care of it and preserves it in the Grave and he will certainly raise it again at the last day unto a most Glorious State of Happiness and even then at that instant when their Souls leave their Bodies they ascend up into Heaven into the Presence and Enjoyment of God in Glory As our Saviour therefore said unto his Disciples when he was going away from them into Heaven in John 14.28 If ye loved me ye would rejoyce because I go unto my Father The same may dying Believers say unto their Friends and Relations that they leave behind them if ye loved us ye would rejoyce because we are going unto our God and Father weep not therefore for us but weep for your selves who are forbidden for a while to follow us unto that State of Blessedness which we are now a going to take Possession of for ever Now for a Conclusion of this Subject I have but one thing more to add which may be an Argument of great force and strength to prevail upon the Spirits of Christians not only to make them willing and contented to die but to stir up in them a Holy longing of Soul after Death and that is to consider the Saints great gain and advantage by dying Now here I shall not branch out this Head into several particulars relating to the Happiness of Believers in Heaven because I intend a particular Discourse of the Happiness thereof by it self all that I shall say now concerning the gain of Believers by Death shall be only in General And so let all such know that when they die they shall be perfectly freed from whatsoever is Evil and Afflictive and shall have a perfect Enjoyment of whatever is beneficial and good they shall be perfectly freed from whatsoever is Evil and Afflictive there shall then be no more sorrowing or weeping for Heaven whither Death brings all Believers is the place of the Joy of their Lord where Tears are wip'd away from all Eyes and Sorrow from all Hearts for thither the Ransom'd of the Lord are come with Songs upon their heads and obtain Joy and Gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away Isaiah 35 and the last Where they live without fear which here makes the lives of many burthensome unto them for all cause of fears